Terry Thompson: Candidate for Great Falls City Commission

Six candidates are fighting for two four-year terms on the Great Falls City Commission the city election. 

The two candidates with the most votes will win the seats.

The election is Nov. 5, but 28,000 ballots will be mailed Monday, after which voting will begin.

The Tribune asked each of the Commission candidates 15 questions.

Their responses will be published online and in print over. Terry Thompson's responses are below.

Terry Thompson

Address: 317 34th Ave NE

Occupation: CEO, Great Falls Association of Realtors.

Age: 54

Community involvement: Currently not serving on any boards but involved with the Converge Task Force and Stand Up for Students, which both are focused on student/youth homelessness. Previously served on the boards of Campfire Boys & Girls USA and Great Falls Area Chamber of Commerce. Volunteer for Habitat for Humanity, Special Olympics MT and blood donor for American Red Cross.

Education: Hobson High School, Dahl’s College of Beauty, National Association of REALTORS AE Institute, Certified Professional Standards Administrator and Certified Six Sigma Green Belt.

Military service: None

Past/current political offices held (or sought): Neighborhood Council 3 Member/Chair 2014-2017

Website/Facebook page: www.voteterrythompson.com facebook.com/voteterrythompson

How can residents contact you: thompsonforcitycommission@gmail.com

What prompted you to run?

I want to use my leadership skills to be a champion for Great Falls and move our community forward. I love this community and have called it home for 25 years. We have some great assets that are underused. Great Falls has a reputation for being non-development friendly. I would like to change that. I’m not afraid to make decisions to take our city forward and make it development friendly in order to grow our economy and tax base.

What skills or talents qualify you?

My position as CEO of the Great Falls Association of Realtors includes a dual role as the government affairs director. Therefore, I have been involved with government on a local and state level for the last 12 years. I co-founded the Development Process Task Force which was created for the purposes of assisting developers who have issues with the development process at the city and/or county level. I’ve facilitated meetings with city staff and developers, builders, architects, engineers, property owners to resolve issues. I manage a budget and possess the skills to work with other leaders and the public.

What issues do you care about?

The number one issue is lack of population growth which directly impacts our economic vitality. We must grow our tax base to provide what is needed for public safety, infrastructure, and services citizens expect. Additionally, we need affordable workforce housing to assist existing businesses with recruitment of employees, and to ensure new businesses considering Great Falls have confidence that there is an adequate housing supply. Providing necessary resources to both the police and fire departments, replacing the Natatorium pool, repairing the Civic Center facade, and removing regulatory obstacles with development, are some of the issues I care about.

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Do you think our downtown is healthy? What would you do to improve it?

Our downtown has improved significantly in the past few years. The downtown businesses have come together to move forward in a positive direction. The Business Improvement District and Downtown Association have invested significant efforts into making downtown a desirable place to work, shop and dine. New murals are not only decorative but inviting. A vibrant downtown is beneficial to a city as a whole. However, all business owners would like more communication with city government to address issues where their businesses are located.  I will pledge to be accessible and listen and bring forth everyone’s concerns.

If you could change one thing in the zoning code, what would it be and why?

I am not aware of any issues with the zoning code. I do have concerns about the building code policy pertaining to Geotech Reports. Requiring soil samples by an engineer adds additional costs to build a home. The policy is directly related to why building is happening significantly more in the county than the city. This policy is viewed by the building industry as creating a moratorium on home building in our city. Lawsuits against engineers are impacting their ability to be insured. There is only one engineer in town who is now providing the service. Year-to-date residential housing permit statistics show 33 permits have been issued in the city, compared to 63 permits issued in the county. The result is a negative impact to the city’s tax base.

How do you plan to involve residents in the decision-making process?

Creating better communication and trust between the public and commissioners is one of my priorities. Constituents who have talked to me prior to and during the campaign have voiced frustration about the lack of access to commissioners. Citizens feel the commissioners have their minds made up before a vote so why should they participate in the public hearings. Clearly, citizens may not be familiar with the work sessions that are open to the public, and are where commissioners discuss city business weeks prior to any vote.

We have a great park system in Great Falls. What can we do to improve and maintain it?

Yes, we do have some great parks and there are needed repairs being addressed by the park district. The River’s Edge Trail is a terrific asset to Great Falls. Ensuring it remains a destination for locals and visitors is important. However, I have concerns about the number of parks that are under-utilized and maintained. Wouldn’t it make better sense to have two or three super parks in each of the nine neighborhood councils that have amenities that will be used? Underused parks could be re-purposed.

The city has discussed combining services at the Great Falls Animal Shelter and the Maclean-Cameron Animal Adoption Center to save money and improve services. Should the city pursue additional cooperation between the two animal facilities and why?

I have not taken a position on this topic. I am following the discussions that take place at the Commission work sessions which includes the city’s manager concerns about combining services. It’s my understanding the city manager will be presenting a proposal in the coming weeks. In the meantime, I hope to meet with folks from both sides to gain a better understanding of why this is being proposed and how this would save money.

If elected, what steps would you take to put our city on firmer financial footing?

City budgets are very comprehensive and being fiscally responsible is extremely important to me. The city can only spend what is available to it, so finding other revenue sources will be necessary in the near future. There has been some discussion at the legislature to make the local option tax available to all municipalities and not just resort towns in Montana. We need to capture additional dollars from tourists for example who visit or pass through our city in order to maintain the infrastructure of our streets and buildings.

What neighborhood do you live in and why?

My husband and I have lived in the Skyline neighborhood since 2011. We didn’t have a specific reason for choosing where our home is other than we fell in love with the home itself. As grandparents, we are fortunate to be near our grandchildren’s school so it’s convenient for attending their school functions.

Where are your favorite places to spend time in Great Falls?

We are an athletic/sports family so depending on the time of year, you will find us at the gymnasiums, football fields, and rodeo arenas. Taking our grandchildren to the park is a family favorite.

The Civic Center façade is crumbling in places. How should the city address this problem? The idea of a bond referendum has been discussed. Do you support asking voters for the funds to address the problem?

I attended the commission work session where the presentation was made outlining all that had to be done to repair the façade. I know that discussions have taken place for several years as to where will the money come from to make the needed repairs. If there aren’t grants or other means of paying for the repairs, a bond may have to be the answer we are left with.

There’s been much effort to improve the look of Great Falls such as murals in downtown Great Falls. The city is now looking into a mural on the city’s new water tower on Gore Hill. What do you think of that idea?

While having a mural on the water tower would be nice, I don’t find it to be an expense the city should incur in light of just raising the water and sewer rates. Additionally, the cost to paint the mural would be better spent on public safety or infrastructure needs. If a private group would like to raise the funds, I would support that.

Are there steps the city do to make it easier to do business and develop in Great Falls?

Yes, the city must partner with developers/builders and landowners to create a positive environment for growth. Remove the local regulatory barriers to make it faster and easier to develop. The city has to be supportive of the efforts of the GFDA and play a role in promoting growth. Efforts are being made by the Planning & Community Development and Engineering departments to change the culture from a negative to a positive one but the building industry continues to prefer developing in the county. It’s urgent we change this.

If you received $1 million to use for the city any way you wanted, what would you do with it and why?

A million dollars doesn’t go very far these days with as many things that need to be addressed and public safety is well over due needing funds. I would personally like to have a fire station built in the Skyline area. Two major fires in the past two years is reason enough. It’s my understanding that we could use two new fire stations to cover the areas of town experiencing extended response times. An increase in crime within the city warrants funding additional police officers and equipment they need to do their job.

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